Faire du Tennis

I bought a new tennis racquet two weeks ago, which has - naturally - caused the weather to go south for the past two weekends.

When we lived in Levallois there were some beautiful tennis courts not far from us, but entry was limited to club members, and club membership never comes cheap. Here in Conflans we found some decent courts with similar - albeit lesser fees. We were considering it for a while when David recalled that he had tennis courts at work.

For whatever complaints David might have about his job, it certainly comes with a number of perks. Every company has a sponsored program to enhance the non-workday life of employees (score another point for socialism). For example, my company has discounted movie tickets and Disney passes, and last Christmas they gave everyone a digital camera or DVD player. Of course, I have only been a "real" employee since January and I haven't received any treats yet.

David, however, has been a proper French employee from the beginning, and has been able to take advantage of several benefits. For example:

• CD and DVD rental
• Power tool rental (this was the key to building our kitchen)
• Discounted plane and train tickets (this is how we are getting to Amsterdam and England in the coming months)
• Discounted hotels
• Discount vouchers for books

And tennis courts. David found the guy who keeps the key, and learned that the courts were rarely used during the week, and practically empty on the weekends. So every weekend that doesn't rain we drive out to Cergy Saint-Christophe and let ourselves onto one of the four pristine courts, complete with taught nets, scoring chairs, and nary a crack. One side of the courts is wooded, and on the other sides are rolling hills that lead up to the offices.

Pity for these beautiful courts that I am still so bad at tennis.